The Quest to Find Hiccup's Leg
by animalsarepeopletoo
Summary: When Hiccup's prosthetic goes missing, everyone on Berk pitches in to help look for it. EVERYONE. Crazy one-shot. RoB time-zone.


**This one-shot is dedicated to thepurplewriter333, katurdi, and FanWriter02, my fanfiction buddies. Thanks for sticking with me for around for over six months now, guys! :-)**

 ** _Excuse the rushed parts. Editing is not my friend at the moment._**

* * *

Today was going to be a bad day.

Hiccup knew that from the very moment he woke up. He didn't know why, or what would happen, just that it would be bad. Very bad, at that. But, ever the optimist, he shook the foreboding sense off and tried to think more rational thoughts. Today would be what he made it, and nothing more.

If only that were true.

As soon as Hiccup got out of bed, he, suddenly imbalanced, fell to the floor. For a minute, he lay there, startled, but eventually sat back up. Toothless sniffed over to him from his perch on his own bed, looking curious. His rider was equally perplexed at the situation, but he soon felt the problem. He pulled out his left leg in front of him and rolled up his pant sleeve.

Nothing.

Not much of a surprise, though. It was painfully obvious that he was missing a leg. But that wasn't the thing that surprised him.

His prosthetic was missing.

He thought back to last night. Had he taken it off before going to bed? He sometimes did, because his stump was often irritated by pressure. But unlike many other nights, he had been too tired to scribble along inside his notebook and promptly fell asleep as soon as he crawled in bed… prosthetic properly attached to his body.

Had it fallen off when he was asleep, then? That had happened once or twice. He was a fitful sleeper lately and could've knocked the prosthetic from his foot in a nightmare. Yeah… maybe that was it… after all, where else could've had gone?

He searched around his room for a few minutes on his hands and knees, Toothless watching with a tilted head. However, after awhile of that, he still hadn't discovered his foot. It wasn't in his closet, on his nightstand, or even under the bed.

Huh. This was weird. Very weird.

Hiccup struggled to stand on his remaining foot, using his bedpost to aid him. Maybe it had somehow gotten downstairs, or outdoors… Toothless then helped him walk over to the door, letting his rider lean against him. It was a slow journey, but the pair eventually made it out of the room, down the stairs, and outside.

"Hey, bud, I need your help to get to the village," Hiccup told his dragon. "I need to find Dad and tell him about this leg thing. But I can't go any further without a foot."

Toothless stood quietly while Hiccup mounted, then began to trot towards the village. Hiccup was a bit embarrassed about his current helplessness, but knew that it wasn't his fault his leg was missing… right?

"Ah! There you are, son… I was beginning to think you'd sleep the day away, eh?"

Hiccup smiled thinly as he approached his father, who was standing near the entrance of the forge. "Hey, Dad…"

Stoick's brow creased as he took in the sight of his son on Toothless. "What are you doing riding that dragon of yours, Hiccup? It's a beautiful day, you should be walking, or flying at the very least."

"About that, Dad…"

"Yes?"

"See… when I woke up today, something strange happened…"

"Hiccup!" Astrid's voice called from a little ways away, interrupting the conversation. Hiccup lifted his head to see Astrid and the other young Riders of Berk coming down the street ahead. The young Viking girl looked slightly angry. "Where were you? You said you'd come to the Academy and start training a half hour ago!"

"Morning to you too, Astrid," he said in reply, grinning s, but he was too bothered about his leg's disappearance to give the smile much of its usual life.

As the Riders approached him, Stoick returned his attention to his son. Hiccup sighed. Well, he now he had an audience. It was better to tell everyone now than have to let each person know individually.

"Okay, guys…," said Hiccup, looking them all in the eye. "This morning, I woke up, and… and my leg… well… it was gone!" He blanched as he realized how stupid that sounded. "I mean…"

Snotlout burst out laughing before Hiccup could correct his word choice. "Hate to be the one to break it to ya, Hicc, but your leg has been gone for _three months._ "

Astrid socked him in the arm. "Let him finish, mutton-head."

Eying Snotlout warily, Hiccup slid off of Toothless's saddle, balancing himself with one hand on Toothless's neck to keep from falling over. "My prosthetic leg, I mean. I can't find it anywhere. It was on me when I fell asleep last night, but now… it's just gone." He pointed down to his missing foot in emphasis.

"You probably just misplaced it, son," Stoick waved off. "Go look for it in your room."

"I already did," Hiccup said patiently. "It's not anywhere- at least not in the house. I know I had it on me last night, though… did somebody take it, maybe?" He turned to Ruffnut and Tuffnut. "Ruff, Tuff…? You guys playing a prank on me? Well… ha ha... found you out…"

"I _wish_ it was us," Tuffnut sighed. "It would've been such a Loki-worthy trick."

"But, sadly, no," Ruffnut said.

Hiccup's brow furrowed. "Then… what happened to it? Legs don't just walk off…" When the Riders began to chuckle, he gave them a short glare. "Oh, you know what I mean… And besides… I can't very well go about without walking all day..."

"That's right, you can't, son…" Stoick seemed to be thinking. "Hmm…"

Hiccup allowed him to ponder for a few moments about whatever he was thinking about, but when the time was coming close to a minute of silence, he cleared his throat. "…Dad?"

His father snapped out of his reverie in haste. "Yes? Oh. Right. Alright, Hiccup, don't you worry. We'll find your leg for you."

"'We'?" Hiccup repeated.

"Of course. You're the Heir of Berk, and everyone in the village will want to help look for your prosthetic." Stoick smiled, then reached out and tousled Hiccup's already messy hair. "We'll find it in no time with everyone looking."

Hiccup jumped, then nearly fell at the sudden movement. Toothless caught him just before his head made painful contact with the ground. He steadied himself, but was still astonished. "The whole village, Dad? That really… _really_ isn't necessary…"

"Nonsense, son. You need your leg!" Stoick turned around, then grabbed a nearby Viking's shoulder and began to give him an order. "Leif, you tell everyone you meet that the whole village is needed for a search party. Have the others you talk to spread the word as well. Hiccup's leg is missing and it appears he can't find it."

"Yes, sir!" the Viking said as if this was a common instruction, then rushed off to go spread the news. Stoick watched him go contentedly until Hiccup spoke up.

"Dad... do we really need _search parties_?"

"You'd be surprised how many times Gobber needed a search party to find his personal peg leg. Prosthetics are tricky little devils. But don't worry. It'll be found in no time."

"Um… can't I just make a new leg? The other one wasn't anything special… in fact, I was thinking of making some improvements to it-"

"It'll be quicker to find this one," Stoick interrupted. "Where could one prosthetic go, after all?"

With that, his father merrily went off to get the search parties together, leaving Hiccup leaning against Toothless, helpless to stop the chief from an action that really wasn't necessary…

"A little help here, gang?" he asked his friends. "If we all stood up together, Dad may change his mind…"

But as he turned back to look at them, he saw that they all appeared guilty. "We can't disobey an order from the chief, Hiccup," Fishlegs said quietly. "And… well… plus… you need your prosthetic to get around. We'll join the search parties and help look for it."

"Come on, guys- this is getting _way_ out of hand!" Hiccup exasperated, shaking his head.

Tuffnut sniggered. "No, my dear boy, this is getting way out of _foot_!"

* * *

"I think I found it!" a man cheered from near a barrel of cabbage, holding an object up over his head in triumph. "Hiccup's foot!"

Stoick hurried over, pleased to hear this. "Really, Sven?"

"Yeah!"

There was a pause as the chief looked over Sven's prize. "Sven, that's a boot."

The Viking deflated. "Oh."

Another silence began to draw out until Stoick bellowed, "WELL, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR- LET'S KEEP LOOKING!"

"Aye, chief!"

Hours had passed since the disappearance of Hiccup's prosthetic had been made known, and Berk's rationality level had steadily declined, along with Hiccup's patience. Nearly all the residents of Berk were peeking under carts or checking a stall in an effort to look for their Heir's missing leg.

"There's no need," Hiccup continued to insist. "I can make a new prosthetic." He was slightly thrilled at the eager way the village was helping him, but uncomfortable. Were these overly-helpful Vikings still the same people who used to call him names and ridicule him just a few short months ago?

Right now, Tuffnut was drilling him for information as they sat down inside the forge for a lunch break. Apparently, he thought that Hiccup might have some useful tips on where the missing leg could be.

"Would you say that the subject disappeared at around, say, eleven last night?" Tuffnut interrogated his friend, a charcoal pencil and paper in hand to take notes.

"Erm... I guess...? I'm not really-"

"Where was the subject last seen?"

"I don't know, Tuff," he said sarcastically. "It's a prosthetic. Try… my _foot_?"

Tuffnut squinted. "Are you sure about that?"

"…yeah."

"How long has the subject been missing?"

"TUFF, IT'S JUST A PIECE OF METAL, FOR THOR'S SAKE!"

To top that off, the twins and Snotlout were also making leg jokes at every possible opportunity. One time, when Hiccup couldn't think of an answer to something, Snotlout slyly said, "Are you _stumped_?" And then there was that incident when Hiccup had told his friends that they had done enough already, and _Astrid_ of all people joked that they had no "limb-its" when it came to him.

Real funny.

This _was_ getting way out of hand! Or foot… or whatever. Hiccup could easily make a new foot, and could survive with a peg leg for one day. Gobber had for _years_.

Speaking of Gobber… He was one of the leading Vikings of the search party- he claimed to have omniscient knowledge of prosthetics and where they could go. However, he pretty much just shouted, "Here, leggy leggy leggy… here, leggy leg…" And when someone told him that wouldn't help him find the prosthetic, he had just looked at them mysteriously and said, "Yeh never know."

However, even with all the work the village was putting in, they still could not find Hiccup's prosthetic. The Haddock house had been triple-checked, Dragon Academy groomed over twice, and the village full of detective-like Vikings. It was simply not anywhere.

Though Hiccup was fine with making a new foot, he was still desperately curious to where his leg might've gone. He knew that he hadn't taken it off last night. It had been in his room last. But his room had been the most checked place so far, so it couldn't be in there.

"Where could it be, bud?" Hiccup murmured to his dragon, who sat beside him. Toothless just stared at him, his wide green eyes blinking slowly. The Night Fury had been unusually quiet today, hardly crooning at all. Hiccup wasn't too worried, though. Somedays Toothless was just more subdued than others.

"Hey, don't worry, Hiccup," Astrid said from nearby. She smiled comfortingly, and set a hand down on his shoulder. "It'll be alright."

"And you're _all right_ too," Tuffnut agreed with a grin.

The Riders stared blankly at him, not getting the humor in whatever joke he had just made.

"You know," said Tuffnut, nodding. "He lost his _left_ leg… so he's all _right_ …!" He looked around for a laugh, but earned none. "No?" Soon, he deflated back into his chair, nibbling on some bread.

Hiccup sighed. "This can't go on any longer. My dad has to stop this- this _ridiculous_ search. I mean… I'm flattered and all… but it's just a foot!"

"Yeah," Snotlout said. "It's _prosthetic_. Heh heh… get it? Prosthetic, _pathetic_?"

"We _get it,_ Snotlout," Astrid said through gritted teeth.

"Are you sure you can convince Stoick to stop looking?" Fishlegs asked. "He's pretty determined."

Hiccup rubbed his temples. "When is he not? I… I know he just wants to help… but this _doesn't_ matter. It's so pitifully insignificant that I just can't see why we can't forget about it…"

"Look, Hiccup," Astrid said seriously. "You can't walk away from this."

"Oh, wow- that's _hilarious_ , Astrid…"

"You're just going to have to get through today. Maybe by tomorrow, the chief'll disband the search parties. But it's only been a few hours. I didn't, after all, _peg_ you as a quitter."

Hiccup nodded after a few moments of thought. "You're right. Sorry, guys. I know it hasn't even been that long. It's just… frustrating." Slowly, he stood from his chair, but wobbled slightly. He had to use a peg leg to move around, at least for today, and was still getting used to it. "Today just got started off on… the wrong foot."

The other Riders stared in shock at his pun. Hiccup smirked. "What? I can't make a leg joke, too?"

Before they could reply, he, chuckling, made his way outside to go help his father look for his missing prosthetic.

* * *

Day melted into evening and then finally night. Hiccup's foot remained lost. Exhausted, most of the village had stopped searching, but a few brave souls remained scouring the streets. Hiccup had all but stopped trying to talk Stoick out of his search- however, as the sky grew darker, even the chief agreed to call off the rescue mission (or recovery mission) till the morning. He and Hiccup agreed to settle down for the night and have a quiet dinner before retiring to bed.

Hiccup wasn't feeling very hungry, though, and mostly poked his food around the plate when dinner was served. All he wanted to do was go upstairs and start making plans for the design of his new prosthetic, but knew his father wouldn't want him to go to bed without supper.

"I'm, uh, sorry we couldn't find your foot, son," Stoick said, munching on a chicken leg.

"It's not a big problem. Don't worry. You did great today, Dad." Hiccup tried for a smile, but it felt flat on his face.

The chief took another leg of chicken and started eating that one, too. Hiccup found it ironic about how tonight of all nights they had decided to eat chicken _legs_. "No, Hiccup, it _is_ a problem. So, tomorrow, I'm going to double- no, _triple_ \- my efforts."

"No, no, it's fi-"

"More places are ruled out, and we'll now be able to know where to look." Stoick nodded. "This is important, son. Your leg is very special to you, I know…"

Hiccup didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't. It was really just a piece of metal to him, not much more. It was replaceable. Time wasn't. So, faking a broad yawn, he stretched his arms. "Ahhhh. I think I'm just going to call it a night, Dad… big day tomorrow… gotta get some sleep."

"Oh… yes. Goodnight, son."

"Night, Dad."

Hiccup rushed up the stairs as fast as he could, Toothless soon following him up. As soon as his door was shut, he was overcome with a wave of exhaustion that sent him stumbling towards his bed. Maybe the designs could wait till tomorrow… sleep seemed much more alluring.

A minute later, he found himself laying prostrate on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Dimly, he heard Toothless stepping into his own resting place, but the dragon didn't warm his spot with fire- a first, as far as Hiccup was concerned. The Night Fury loved shooting a low flame on the rock he slept on so when he fell asleep, he'd be nice and warm. A natural instinct, Hiccup guessed, that Toothless performed every night.

He groggily sat up in bed to see what was the matter with his friend. "Toothless? You okay, bud…?"

Toothless just stared at him, but there seemed to be something twinkling in his eyes… a look that Hiccup could interpret only too well: Toothless was laughing at him.

"What?" said Hiccup, incredulous. "What did I do?"

Toothless pivoted away from him, chortling good-naturedly. Curious, Hiccup got out of bed and came over to sit his dragon. Was something wrong? "Toothless… what is it?"

Nothing.

"C'mon, bud, I'm tired… you're tired… it's been a long day. What is it?"

Toothless shifted a little, turning his head in Hiccup's direction. The naughty look remained. And then, slowly, he opened his mouth… and everything at once made sense.

" _You_ took my prosthetic?" Hiccup whispered, shocked as he saw his metal leg resting inside Toothless's mouth. " _You_?"

So _that's_ why Toothless had been quiet today! _That's_ why he hadn't been helping look for his rider's prosthetic! The dragon must've thought it'd be funny to steal Hiccup's foot in the middle of the night- an attempt at a prank in the dragons' language. And a good one at that; no one would even think to check Toothless for the missing leg.

Toothless let the invention fall from his mouth to the floor, his tail thumping against the ground. Hiccup picked up his slimy prosthetic in his hands, trying to wipe off the saliva. Unfortunately, he knew that Night Fury spit didn't come off easily. That didn't stop him from trying.

"Toothless!" he cried. "We've been looking for this all day! And you- you had it all along! It was right in front of my nose… the entire time!"

Toothless cocked his head, and Hiccup could almost hear his thoughts. _So_ that's _what you were looking for?_

"Agh! Dad is going to make you sleep outside for a week, he'll be so mad… and I can't rightly say I disagree with him!" He waved his fake foot in front of Toothless's face, shaking it. "Bad dragon! Very bad dragon! Agh, I can't believe you sometimes…" But he didn't have the heart to do much more than that.

"I… I guess this could be our little secret, then," said Hiccup grudgingly after looking over Toothless's face. "I won't tell Dad you took it. I'll just say that we somehow missed it while checking my room. But _never_ take it again, alright? _Never_ , you hear?"

Toothess just gave a gummy smile. Hiccup laughed, finding that was a good enough promise for him.

"Alright, you useless reptile, I think it's time we _finally_ get some rest," Hiccup told his friend as he tied his prosthetic back to his stump. He wouldn't be letting it out of sight for a _long_ time. He decided that he would tell his father he had found it in the morning. Let Stoick dream about his search parties tonight, at least. "Night, bud."

Toothless warbled a goodnight back, then began to settle down to bed. Hiccup blew out his candle, sending the room into darkness, and plopped down in his bed. What a _day._ He was so tired… so tired that he couldn't sleep.

As he rolled over in bed, Hiccup grinned.

This was one of the craziest days he had ever experienced. And the almost exasperating thing was, he knew there were more of them to come. Many, many more. To his surprise, he found himself looking forward to them.

Berk might've been crazy… it might have been completely insane… it might've even been the craziest island in the archipelago…

But one boy fell asleep that night, a smile on his face, and a prosthetic fastened _tightly_ to his leg.

All was right with the world.

 ** _THE END_**


End file.
